Saturday, October 27, 2012

Clinic X

There's a commercial that's been airing on TV frequently over the last week or so. It's for a weight-loss clinic that I'll call Clinic X.

The commercial shows a slim, good looking blonde woman, probably in her early thirties. Of course, it starts with the usual "before" picture and then switches to the new and improved version of the same woman, dancing sexily in a fetching cocktail dress.

The woman proceeds to tell us how Clinic X has saved her life, probably saved her marriage and quite likely saved her from dying from diseases that she does not have now, but could very well develop in the future. She almost sounds like she's crying, her voice practically breaking with emotion.

Wow. This clinic doesn't beat around the bush. It uses every single stereotype in the book, preying on every fear: health, love, abandonment.

For fun, I googled the clinic. It's very expensive and there have been complaints about certain rather questionable practices.

5 comments:

To transform and deconstruct the damaging cultural messages that a) oppress people based on size, b) perpetuate harmful biases and discriminatory practices, and c) reproduce damaging social stigmas founded on LIES, it is imperative to publicly perform exactly these kinds of critical analyses--as you have done here, NewMe!

We can all learn to excel at unpacking, piece by piece, the so-called "weight loss" advertising rhetoric wherever we encounter it. We can support each other while exposing the truly ugly and destructive undersides of these bull sh*t mythologies and capitalist marketing strategies. We can reveal the manipulative and dishonest money-making attempts to prey on peoples' most profound vulnerabilities and fears.

And we can continue to underscore the bottom-line corporate goal (THE ONE AND ONLY CRUCIAL AIM) of every single "weight loss" marketing and advertising campaign: to amass the greatest possible economic profits, all while rationalizing (attempting to morally justify) widely diverse acts of harm---supposedly acts of concern and/or love).

These profit-driven corporate BLOOD SUCKERS (whether they're called "clinics" or diet companies) accumulate the highest possible earnings when they SUCCEED at teaching people:

1) To devalue (& disrespect) themselves and others, as human beings, while perpetrating false beliefs about health risks and while implying that REAL love has petty and biased conditions attached;

2) To construct human worth based on external physical appearances, physical performance and social status (rather than framing human worth as a natural and universal GIVEN);

3) To turn themselves and others into objects (by treating human beings like things, machines or interchangeable pieces of EQUIPMENT) which MUST react to threats, MUST control or be controlled, and MUST obey the corporate-ordered demands to change---or else accept the self-blame and acknowledge responsibility while suffering and enduring threats of harm and punishment---

Wow. When you break it all down, NewMe, it becomes so clear what is going on.

In fact, I can't think of a more efficient and precise method to systematically create a hostile and oppressive environment--to terrify the masses, and to institutionalize self hatred and hatred of others (all those who don't fit the rigid, so-called social "norms").

Quite simply: the more that FEAR becomes a way of LIFE, the higher "clinic" earnings sky rocket.

"Clinic."

Hard to believe now, perhaps, but that word supposedly once designated a safe haven where one could seek and receive compassion, care and healing.

*red faced*-->Um, thanks for not responding: "Gee, h&f, opinionated much?" I guess it's obvious how steamed those kinds of ads can make me feel...especially when I'm running on much too little sleep. Those oppressive ads illustrate one of the main reasons I chose to stop watching TV. Grrr... trying my best to safeguard any sanity that may still be lurking within. :)